This would have been packed together i a bag and sealed, not to be opened unless ordered to do so by higher command.

I have used modern equivilents and all edible, you will be able to work out where they come from by the photos. The labels have been completed on the computer and in some instances coppied from other reenactors websites where they have given permission to do so. They have been printed onto brown ribbed packing paper and cut to size, this gives a nice period look. The tins have been sprayed in a grey primer colour to give them a German military feel. They paper bag was also made from brown ribbed packing paper.

Take the labels of the tins, issue food in tins was never labelled, only 'locally obtained' items had civilian manufacturer labels.

Paul

That may well be the case Paul, however, the labels conviniently cover the ribbing present on modern cans. I would rather have the labels than the ribbing, plus I can see whats in the can before openning

Take the labels of the tins, issue food in tins was never labelled, only 'locally obtained' items had civilian manufacturer labels.

Paul

That may well be the case Paul, however, the labels conviniently cover the ribbing present on modern cans. I would rather have the labels than the ribbing, plus I can see whats in the can before openning

Andy

But not knowing what was in the can before opening it was usually the best part of the meal

Take the labels of the tins, issue food in tins was never labelled, only 'locally obtained' items had civilian manufacturer labels.

Paul

That may well be the case Paul, however, the labels conviniently cover the ribbing present on modern cans. I would rather have the labels than the ribbing, plus I can see whats in the can before openning

Andy

But not knowing what was in the can before opening it was usually the best part of the meal

I have been on exercise where tins were thrown in the BV to be cooked during a night march ready for breakfast the next morning. In the dark it was thought a tin of sausages and a tin of beans in tomato sauce were put in, HOWEVER, we all enjoyed a piping hot meal of sugar and pilchards in tomato sauce!!!

Accurate or not - would you actually want to eat this suff after putting all the work in making look nice?

We need someone like ALDI to start knocking out items that look conviently like the period items. Then you can scoff all you like without fretting over "it took me XXX time to make this stuff and now its gone in 5 minutes".

One way round this is to ensure that your OC never gives the order to tuck in

Accurate or not - would you actually want to eat this suff after putting all the work in making look nice?

We need someone like ALDI to start knocking out items that look conviently like the period items. Then you can scoff all you like without fretting over "it took me XXX time to make this stuff and now its gone in 5 minutes".

One way round this is to ensure that your OC never gives the order to tuck in

Actually the whole point of me playing around with this stuff was to be able to come up with a cheap and easily made ration that WILL be eaten.

Now that I have the labels on file and the kit to make the stuff it takes around 20 to 25 minutes to knock upp a full iron ration. I think this is a better option than having nothing.

Yes it is not entirely acctuate as the tins have labels, but I have explained why they have them (I'm sure if I had left the labels off and let the ribbing become visable I would have MANY more people pointing that out!!!).

What I have tried to create here is a USEABLE facsimile of period German rations that can be USED. The content is correct to my knowlwdge, the presentation is fair taking into consideration the points I have highlighted.

Many labels had Heeres-Verpflegungsamt with Inhalt and letter of what contents were with date, have couple originals in my collection, best tins are from rat packs as they have smooth sides, not corrigated. They also had boiled sweets and dextrose tablets. Here is example of a few

Gemüse(Gemischtes)

Gemüse(Bohnen u. Wursten)

Rindfleisch

Konservenfleisch

Aldi's own premium coffee is very similar to ersatz kaffee as a few Waffen-SS vets I knew mentioned this as its bloody awful, don't mind black coffee but theres a limit hehehe One Vet I knew served with Wiking said all he had to eat for one week was lard, said he never tasted better lard.

Theres little work needed to label foodstuffs, and if caredull can be re-used.

Hi guys,Here's some info I wrote up, hopefully it'll help clear up some of the re-enactor myths about German army rations, I took all of the info from sources about rations, not from other forums... US army report on German rations was one place... so all were reliable sources!

Tom

Rations Of The Fallschirmjager.

The rations of the Fallschirmjager during the Second World War varied as to how the troops were to be used in the field. When used as elite infantry in a ground combat role, the Fallschirmjager would have been issued the regular infantry 24-hour iron ration. But when on combat jump status another more substantial ration was issued.To begin with the Fallschirmjager recruited with the promise of extra rations, though this was not entirely truthful. True, there were extra rations given to the men of the Fallschirmjager but these were only issued when on a combat jump and adding to this, the ration was supposed to last up to three days if there was no re-supply.With this aside the ration was well designed and provided attractive, varied and nutritional foodstuffs that helped to build morale and increase physical stamina and fitness within the Fallschirm korps.

These kinds of food items were considered as luxury items in Germany at the time and so were a great morale builder before the long and arduous operation ahead. Of course this would also help to tie over the soldier on his journey to the drop zone.

Next was another type of ration that was to be issued to Fallschirmjager personnel that would be emplaned for either two flights lasting four hours or one long four-hour flight to the drop zone. This was designed to provide the energy and stimulants needed for a Fallschirmjager soldier to be able to carry out the necessary tasks needed to make a safe jump and landing at the end of the long flight.

Once on the ground the Fallschirmjager soldier had three days worth of food on his person. This special ration consisted of many components as used in the Wehrmacht 24-hour iron ration but with the addition of some extra energy giving foodstuffs.

All of these components are standard ration items, but put together they create a nutritional supply of food with a high-energy content. It is noticeable that a lot of the items are made from sugar, this is to give an extra boost of energy in demanding situations.

Next we will look at the standard infantry 24-hour iron ration as issued to the Fallschirmjager when in a ground combat role.

German Rations.

German frontline rations during the Second World War were a basic meal designed to sustain a soldier during the hardships that would be endured. The ration changed throughout the war gradually getting less and less and declining in quality. Early on the ration would have been made up of a variety of fresh vegetables, meats and spices but as the war progressed and with the pressures of a wartime economy and increased Allied air superiority, the German war machine began to break down and could no longer produce the required quantities of fresh food stuffs needed for the frontline. So with that, the ration had to be changed to be an easy to produce and simple to maintain nutritional food supply. So naturally the use of tinned products appeared to be the way forward. Here we will look at the basic rations of a frontline soldier for the period of 1944-1945.

Okay before we get into things let’s look at how the German rations were issued and used in a 24 hour period.

Field Kitchen Food Issue.

When not at the frontline or in touch with a field kitchen, German soldiers were issued food directly from the field kitchen. The field kitchen would issue food according to what was available for at the time. A good “standard” guideline for a days worth of food issued by the field kitchen is as follows (although was not often met):

Breakfast:

Multigrain bread – up to half a loaf when in good supply (the full days bread ration was issued at the beginning of the day in time for breakfast)CheeseMarmaladeDried sausage (Wurst)

Mid-day Meal (the largest meal of the day):

Stew

Evening Meal:

(Similar to breakfast)Using the remainder of the days bread rationCheeseDried sausage (Wurst)Additional item could consist of soup

German 24-Hour Iron Ration.

When on the move to contact with the enemy German soldiers would be issued one days iron ration and another in advance if there were enough supplies to do so. Also the half iron ration was issued in addition to the two sets of full iron rations.

The 24-hour iron ration could have been consumed like this throughout a single 24-hour period:

Breakfast:

One quarter to half of the days bread ration with butter/and marmalade (if issued into the butter dish)Half of the tin of meat

Mid-day Meal (the largest meal of the day):

German soldiers would have paired up into groups of two or three people and put their rations together to create a messkit full of soup, which would then be dished out equally between the group.

Rest of the tin of meatVegetable portion of the rationSpices – salt

Evening Meal:

Rest of the days bread ration

If available condensed soup

The drink portion of the iron ration was up to the discretion of the individual soldier, though it was common practice for two or three soldiers to pool supplies and make up a messkit of coffee.

Half Iron Ration.

The half iron ration was a reduced version of the full iron ration, this was intended to be eaten on the express order of the officer in charge and the individual soldier was expected to keep the iron ration in perfect condition as it was property of the Wehrmacht and not the individuals. Eating the half iron ration without permission was a punishable offence and many a long cold night was spent on guard duty due to someone’s hunger getting the better of them!The half iron ration was carried inside a small bag that had a tubular shape to it and a draw string top. It was then stored inside the A-frame bag, this was partially due to the fact that the A-frame bag was difficult to get into once the zeltbahn and tent poles were fastened over it.

Half Iron Ration:

· 200g Tinned meat· 300g Knackebrot

The packaging of the half iron ration was the same as the standard ration as they were the same component parts but would have been wrapped together inside brown paper to prevent the soldier from opening and eating the contents without permission.

German Pre-packaged Rations.

Nahkampfpackung and Grosskampfpackung.

In the later stages of the war the German army began to issue it’s own special pre-packaged energy rations. These came in two types, the Nahkampfpackung and the Grosskampfpackung. They were similar in appearance and design but they were slightly different in their contents and designated function.

The Nahkampfpackung.

The Nahkampfpackung was intended for troops engaged in physically demanding situations that required an extra boost of energy and also to rebuild energy levels and morale after action.Often these were issued to wounded Allied POW’s at German aid stations, as they were not equipped to issue prepared food from a field kitchen.The Kampfpackung consisted of a few standard items and also some ersatz components to cover for unavailable items.It is interesting to note that as German recruits became younger and younger due to the manpower shortage in Germany in the later stages of the war, certain items such as the cigarettes and cigars would not be issued to the younger recruits and instead an extra ration of chocolate or candy would be given in it’s place. This brings to mind the saying that, “you are not old enough to be classed as an adult but you are old enough to die fighting for your country.”

The Grosskampfpackung was intended to be a pre-combat ration to build up energy levels before going into action. It was also issued to troops that would undergo extra strenuous duties such as mountaineering, long marches or cold weather duties such as sentry duties, etc.

Contents Of The Grosskampfpackung:

100g Chocolate (real or ersatz)100g Biscuits or fruit bars6 Cigarettes but often a Wehrmacht 4 pack

Accurate or not - would you actually want to eat this suff after putting all the work in making look nice?

We need someone like ALDI to start knocking out items that look conviently like the period items. Then you can scoff all you like without fretting over "it took me XXX time to make this stuff and now its gone in 5 minutes".

One way round this is to ensure that your OC never gives the order to tuck in

Actually the whole point of me playing around with this stuff was to be able to come up with a cheap and easily made ration that WILL be eaten.

Now that I have the labels on file and the kit to make the stuff it takes around 20 to 25 minutes to knock upp a full iron ration. I think this is a better option than having nothing.

Yes it is not entirely acctuate as the tins have labels, but I have explained why they have them (I'm sure if I had left the labels off and let the ribbing become visable I would have MANY more people pointing that out!!!).

What I have tried to create here is a USEABLE facsimile of period German rations that can be USED. The content is correct to my knowlwdge, the presentation is fair taking into consideration the points I have highlighted.

Andy Ansell

Hi Andy,Good effort with the rations, read my post about rations. Also you could cover the tins with card to simulate the smooth sides of the wartime tins and just spray them black or grey. Also the tins were labelled on the top with just a stamp! So use one stamp for meat and another for vegetables.... that's using your noggin! You'll still know what's in those tins!

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